Arrests in Connecticut schools dropped 13.5 percent from 2008 to 2011, but hundreds of the arrests made in 2011 were for minor policy violations such as throwing erasers, shouting, or leaving class without permission, a new report says.

The report by Connecticut Voices for Children -- the first comprehensive study of its kind in the state -- also found significant racial disparities in arrest rates: Black students were 3.7 times more likely to be arrested than white students, and Hispanic students were 3.2 times more likely.

"The overall number of arrests have declined, which is an encouraging trend," said Sarah Esty, the report's author and a former policy fellow of Voices for Children. "However, there remains a great deal of work to be done in terms of students being arrested for behaviors that likely could have been handled without police involvement . . . and in the disturbing disparities in arrest rates."

Because the data is from 2011, it does not reflect several recent initiatives designed to reduce Connecticut's school arrest rates. Two years ago, the Court Support Services Division began screening police summonses of juveniles and kicking back those it deemed inappropriate for prosecution. In addition, juvenile justice advocates have been working directly with districts to reduce arrests and address racial and ethnic inequities.

But the report also does not reflect what some advocates worry could be a rise in school-based arrests in the aftermath of the shooting at Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School last December. Many schools opened this month with increased security in place, including armed guards.

The 2011 data shows 2,936 Connecticut students, or about one in 200, were arrested during the school year -- down from a peak of 3,396 students arrested in the 2008 school year, and down 3 percent from 2010. The state's 20 largest districts arrested students at vastly differently rates -- from 1 arrest per 1,000 students in Trumbull, to 27.8 arrests per 1,000 students in Meriden.

In Bridgeport, a school district of 20,500 students, 101 arrests were recorded in 2011, placing it eighth in the state. None of its comprehensive high schools cracked the top 10 most arrested students list, but Harding High, with 45 arrests, came in 12th that year. By comparison, Bassick had 26 arrests that year and Central only 6 arrests. Among K-8 schools in Bridgeport, one, Marin, had eight arrests.

Police Sgt. Paul Grech, who works with city schools, said arrests have gone down tremendously since the 2011 report -- it was 61 in 2012-13 -- in part because more effort is made to make more use of a juvenile review board that is run through the Regional Youth Adult Social Action Partnership, a local social service agency. The board helps remediate and counsel students and their families.

"I think it works. I utilized it a lot last year."

Bridgeport Schools Superintendent Paul Vallas said comprehensive interventions and supports have reduced student misconduct. The result has been a 40 percent reduction in arrests throughout Bridgeport schools.

Schools in poorer, more urban districts arrested students at substantially higher rates than schools in more advantaged suburban districts. Students in the poorest urban areas -- Bridgeport, Hartford, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Waterbury, and Windham -- were arrested nine times more often than students in the wealthiest suburban areas, the analysis found.

Although white students were 62 percent of Connecticut's student population in 2011, only 35.3 percent of the students arrested were white. Black children were 13.2 percent of the state's students, but 27.6 percent of those arrested, while Hispanic students were 18.6 percent of state students, but 34.2 percent of those arrested.

In addition, students with special education needs were arrested at rates 2.8 times higher than their peers. The State Street School in Waterbury, an alternative program serving students with social, emotional and mental health needs, had the highest rate of arrests among all schools: 34 arrests among 77 students.

Experts say school arrests fuel recidivism in the criminal justice system and often take the place of more intensive interventions that can lead to better outcomes for children.

"Arresting children for behavior that could be handled in the school takes students out of the learning environment, sets back educational progress, and results in additional costs," said Ellen Shemitz, executive director of Connecticut Voices for Children. She said the data suggest a need for policy changes "to prevent unnecessary involvement with the juvenile justice system, to keep children where they belong - in school." The report recommends that state policymakers and the Department of Education provide assistance to schools to reduce arrests, and require districts with police stationed in schools to create formal school-police agreements that set clear ground rules concerning arrests.

Esty said she was hopeful that the increased police presence in schools following the Newtown shooting would not lead to more arrests, but instead to "closer partnerships" between schools and police and more conversations about constructive interventions. Training for police working with youths is key, she said. Connecticut has no uniform standards for training.

"There are a lot of ways that Newtown can impact what happens," she said. "If school districts aren't doing the training and are putting police in schools without having those conversations ... that's a cause for concern."